SPRING HOME MAINTENANCE

With warmer weather just around the corner, home and business owners alike, are dusting off their home improvement to-do lists and finding that many of their projects fell through the cracks this past year.

Here are a few tips to consider for your spring home maintenance check-list:

Inspect the outside of your home as well as other wooden structures for dry rot.  Use a screwdriver to probe areas you believe there might be wood rot.  If the tip exposes any soft or mushy areas, this should be added to your list of home maintenance chores.  Some areas to inspect include wood siding and corner trim as well as window sills and trim. 

Inspect your window and door screens.  I love fresh air which means having my doors and windows open.  Now is the time to start cleaning and making sure that your screens are free from rips and tears as well as bent frames.  You don’t want any unwelcome critters entering your home.

If you have a crawl space or basement, make sure to inspect it for standing water and/or excessive moisture.  

If you are like me, I love having fires all winter long.  Now is the time to have your fireplace or wood stove and chimney cleaned and serviced, as needed.  

Another item to include on your list is to start inspecting your deck for deterioration.  Look for loose or cracked wood.  If a deck board feels too spongy, it probably needs to be replaced.  Use the screw driver method mentioned above on the deck posts.  If there is wood rot, it’s time to get this repaired as well.  If you have handrails, make sure they feel secure and not wobbly.

Once your deck seems good to go…why not get it pressure washed as well as sealed.

Oh, the dreaded Spring Cleaning – click HERE for a downloadable list to help make your spring cleaning easier, room by room! 

Why not take your Spring Cleaning one step further and replace last years wall colors with something new or maybe have some ceiling fans installed to help circulate the fresh air.

Adding more storage to your home not only decreases clutter, but increases your home value as well.

In summary, you can do a lot of the small items on your list, but for some of the bigger things like paint, dry rot repair, etc...why not contact Steve's Handyman Service. I can save you time and energy!!

Remember...I am just a phone call away!

MURPHY WALL BED INSTALLATION AND MORE.....

I have a customer who was renovating a rental unit in Fairfax.  The unit is a studio apartment and she wanted to utilize the space as best as possible.  She decided on having a Murphy wall bed installed and so she gave me a call.  I admit, I had never built a Murphy bed, but I am up to tackling most anything.

I built, installed and painted the wall bed it in just a few days and can honestly say it really transformed this room.  Here are some photos…..the new tenant just loves it and when it’s not being used, she just puts the bed back into the wall and once again has more living space.

My customer also wanted to add some shelving so the new tenant has a bit more storage.  I built some shelves in the kitchen where there was some open space not being used, I also added shelving in the closet and painted the interior of the apartment.

This was a fun project and not something I get to do everyday.   If you find that you need more space in your home, like turning your guest room into a playroom or your office into an occasional guestroom, please give Steve’s Handyman Service a call or contact me here.

PULL DOWN ATTIC STAIRS

Many of us have attics in our houses.  Some may be large enough to turn into another room and some are basically crawl spaces but can be used to store decorations, small pieces of furniture, items that you don’t use too often, etc.  Having this space is a valuable commodity, so why not utilize it to its fullest potential.

One of the first home improvements I did when we moved into our home was to install pull down attic stairs in our garage.  It has been an awesome and convenient space saver for us and comes in handy every Christmas to store our decorations and other items we only use occasionally.  These pull down stairs can also be installed anywhere in your home that has easy access to the space above.

You can choose between wooden and aluminum pull-down and fold away stairs, some support more weight than others. 

Once the stairs are installed you can put trim up around the door opening and paint the panel to match the ceiling.  Once everything is completed, these stairs will blend in with the feel of your home, looking perfectly in place when closed.

You are now ready to start re-organizing…maybe even start Spring Cleaning!

If you are interested in having more storage in your home and the convenience it adds, please give me a call.  I would love to help get you clutter free this coming New Year!!